London’s Best Cocktail Bars 2016

London has many of the world’s best cocktail bars, and certainly the most awarded.

We’ve always been synonymous with the glamour of a hotel cocktail – with places like the Ritz and the Savoy havens for London’s bright young things to party away the night. But recent years have also seen a new breed of cocktail bar popping up across London, that takes swank, style and science to create some of the world’s most impressive (and delicious) drinks.

Tales of the Cocktail run their annual Spirited Awards to judge and honour the world’s best in cocktails, and the current international winners list is dominated by London.

The awards recognise the year’s best bars, bartenders, writers and experts, voted by a panel of more than 100 industry experts.

The World’s Best Bar award – the most coveted award with competition between bars from every city in the world – went to the The Connaught Bar at the Connaught Hotel in London.

Here’s what London won – and the best bars you should be heading to for a well deserved sip of liquid heaven.

World’s Best Cocktail Menu:
Dandelyan

In the American categories, awards went to bars in San Francisco (Best American Bar Team – ABV; Best American Cocktail Bar – Smuggler’s Cove), Las Vegas (Best American High Volume Cocktail Bar – Herbs & Rye), New York (Best American Hotel Bar – The Elephant Bar at The NoMad; Best American Restaurant Bar – Saxon + Parole), Portland (American Bartender of the Year – Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Clyde Common) and Miami Beach (Best New American Cocktail Bar – Sweet Liberty).

Other Global bar awards went to Tokyo (International Bartender of the Year – Hidetsugu Ueno of Bar High Five), Barbados (Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient – Stiggins’ Fancy Plantation Pineapple) and San Francisco (World’s Best Spirits Selection – Tommy’s).